Jack Zduriencik plays down Chone Figgins–Kevin Kouzmanoff swap deal
Trade news is rampant at the moment and the world of baseball is engulfed in serious restructuring, as clubs are looking for ways to strengthen their bases and move into the spring training period with reinforced squads. There
has been activity in the free agency, but most of the quality players have moved on to teams. Trading and player swaps are the most useful ways of reeling in fringe stars.
The Oakland Athletics and the Seattle Mariners are two teams that have been considering such an option in the market. Their focus has been on vacant positions. However, there has been consideration for a swap deal to go through
with third baseman players, Chone Figgins and Kevin Kouzmanoff. The report came from the Contra Costa Times, but Mariners general manager, Jack Zduriencik has cleared out the situation in a recent FanFest event that took place on Thursday.
"I'm looking forward to Figgins being our starting third baseman," Zduriencik said. "He'll be here tomorrow (for the Mariners' FanFest). He's been agreeable to moving back to third base and that's our plan, to have Chone be our
Opening Day third baseman."
Figgins is currently playing at second base and with his shift to third base, things could look different. Figgins carried a batting average of .259, last season. Furthermore, he drove in 35 runs and pushed out a home run in 161
games for the club. His on base percentage was .340, while his slugging percentage was low on .306. With a pay slip of 8.5 million dollars, the Mariners would feel weak, as their massive budget would suggest a loss on their investment.
The one thing that Chone has in his favour is the experience he has piled up over the recent years. The general manager was able to voice his support for the player during the FanFest.
"A lot of things were tied into Chone's year last year," Zduriencik said. "It was his first big contract, there was switching organizations, switching positions, batting in a different spot in the batting order. That's a lot. He
got more comfortable the last two months. I think he was the player we thought he was going to be. This offseason as we evaluated our club, I called Chone and said this is what we're thinking. He said, 'Give me the reason why.' I told him he's an elite infielder
at third base and we have other (middle) infielders. He said, 'If it helps us win, I'm in.'"
The Oakland Athletics, on the other hand, would have been indifferent about Chone’s salary demands as they had proved it in the winter break, signing Brian Fuentes and Grant Balfour. Their tendency to court players openly in the
free agency is of concern to many players, as Kouzmanoff has been forced to think that he is on the disposal list of the A’s. The club was involved with Adrian Beltre in the winter break, as the management did its best to reel in the former Boston Red Sox
third baseman.
Kouzmanoff was vocal about his concern, and in a recent interview, he said that he is perplexed by the management’s activity. The trade deal would have seen the player move to a club that would have put him in the position he is
most familiar with. Nevertheless, with Figgins being secured in the Mariners’ line up, there is still a possibility that the A’s may construct a move for Kevin through a swap deal.
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